Desperate for Help
by mike97321
Summary: Wally and Dick are out on patrol one Friday night when they get a call from Batman. The worst thing that could possibly happen to the Batman family was that Batgirl's been shot by the joker and might not make it through the night. They race to get to her in time.
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Call

Chapter 1- An Unexpected Call

**Author's Notes: I reference a lot of material from The Killing Joke which this story is based on. It is the events that happens afterwards, keep in mind that this is not explored in any way in the comic book, so enjoy. It's just to give background information to you if you did not read the graphic novel.**

**Gotham City  
Commissioner Gordon's Home 5:20pm**

"I hate this. Whenever we jail him, I think "please god, keep him there." Then he escapes and all we sit around hoping he won't do anything TOO awful this time." Jim Gordon said, clipping out news articles about the Batman and his war on the crime of Gotham, it was something he did for fun.

"Dad, just once could you leave your work at the office and relax? I made you cocoa."

"Thank you, sweetheart. I'll drink it when I've pasted this latest clipping in."

"Y'know, I found that Catwoman scrapbook you said was missing. It was behind the wardrobe. Some day you ought to let me work out a proper filing system, like we used at the library," Barbara said setting down a tray with two cups of cocoa on the table.

"Urrgh. Look, you used too much paste! It's all squidging under the edges of the clipping. You're going to get it on your pants…" Barbara said, holding a cup and extending her hand so he would see what she was pointing to.

"Barbara, you're fussier than your mother wa… Was that the door?" Jim said wondering who could be at the door this hour.

"Yeah. It'll be Colleen from across the street. Tonight's our yoga class. C'mon DAD… company! Put your scrapbooks away."

"Heh. Look at this one. First time they met. Now what year was that?"

"Well. I remember you describing the white face and the green hair to me when I was a kid. Scarred the hell out of me."

"I thought you'd be interested."

"Yeah, well, I had some interesting nightmares." Barbara said gripping the doorknob.

Barbara opened the door to see a man with a white face in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He was pointing the revolver at waist level.

Before she knew it, a pain was shooting throughout her whole body. She fell back on the glass coffee table, head first, gripping her wound tightly.

"Barb?" Jim said, checking her for a pulse to see if she was still alive.

"Please don't worry. It's a psychological complaint. Common amongst ex-librarians. You see, she thinks she's a coffee table edition. Mind you, I can't say much for the volume's collection."

"I mean, there's a hole in the jacket and the spine appears to be damaged."

"You, you scum, my daughter, I'll…"

One of the men punched Jim in the stomach.

"Frankly, she won't be walking off the shelves in that state of repair. In fact, the idea of her walking anywhere seems increasingly remote. But then, that's always a problem with softbacks."

"God, these literary discussions are so dry. When you're finished with the old boy, you know where to take him. And please… do be careful! After all, he is topping the bill."

"You know, it's a shame you'll miss your father's debut, Miss Gordon."

"Sadly, our venue wasn't built with the disabled in mind. But don't worry… I'll take some snapshots to remind him of you."

"Wuh… Wuh… Why… Are You…. Dhh… Doing this..?"

"To prove a point, here's to crime."

**Gotham General Hospital**

"The bullet went through her spine. I'm afraid her legs are completely useless. Putting it bluntly, she may well be in a chair for the remainder of her life." The doctor stated, not having even a little bit of hope.

"Some woman inna same yoga class as Miss Gordon found her, name of Colleen Reese. She found the, uh, victim in a state of undress. But otherwise the place was empty. The commissioner was…"

"Undress?" Bruce asked.

"They didn't tell you? He'd removed her clothing after shooting her. We, uh… well, we found a lens cap on the floor that didn't fit any camera in the place. We believe that, uhh…."

"Well, he took some pictures. of her."

"Jeez, look, really, I'm sorry. I thought you knew. It's pretty sick, ain't it."

Bruce's face became filled with rage about what he did to Barbara, after all she was like a daughter to him.

"Yes. Pretty sick, Please leave us alone for a moment." Bruce said crushing the joker card in his hand.

"Barbara?" Bruce said, running his hand on Barbara's check to make sure she was breathing.

"Barbara, can you hear me?"

"It's me."

"It's Bruce."

"Bruce?..."

"Bruce… It was him… took Dad… H-…He…"

"Oh god! Oh God! I remember! Oh, Bruce, What he did…" Barbara said gripping him in a vice lock, wondering just what the hell happened to her.

"Barbara, take it easy. It's okay…"

"No! No, it's not okay! He's… He's taking it to the limit this time… You didn't see. You didn't see his eyes.

"H-he said he wanted to- puh- prove a point… said… Dad was… top of the bill. Wh- what's he doing to him, Bruce?"

"What's he doing to my father?"

With that Bruce pulled her hands of his Kevlar armor. He wanted to it be okay but it won't, since he called Dick and Wally to get here as soon as possible.

He figured that he would track Joker down after they both got here or at least one of them.

After all that happened, he could not leave her alone, not now.

**Gotham City, 2007  
7:30 EST**

Richard and Wally were out on patrol, just a routine patrol; run around the streets of Gotham and stop any crime simple enough. It was something that they did every Friday night, just the two of them; no one else except this time.

It brought them closer as friends. Batgirl was supposed to be with them, but she took the night off to spend with her father, something she neglected for a while.

"So what's been going on with you and Barbara?" Wally asked. "Nothing, we're just friends."

"Sure and I'm the fastest man alive on the planet." Wally said sarcastically.

"But you aren't Barry is!" Dick explained.

"You sure do know how to hurt my feelings."

"That I do even after all these years."

The news they were about to receive would change the team forever.

Dick's phone rang from the inside of his outfit; without thinking; he picked it up and answered in his usual voice.

"Dick, it's Bruce; Barbara's been shot."

"What do you mean shot?" Dick asked.

"Joker shot her in the spine, he wanted to get back at her father; this was his sick way of doing just that."

"Where is she?" Dick asked frantically; wondering if Barbara was still alive; he did not want to admit it, but he cared for her more than just a friend.

"Gotham General Hospital, fourth floor, room 414."

"We'll be right there."

"Dude, what happened?"

"Batgirl's been shot, let's go."

Wally was the fastest way to get there, Dick thought to himself; without thinking, Dick hopped into Wally's arms, since their vehicles were about a mile away; he just hoped he was not too late. If he was he would never forgive himself.

**Gotham General Hospital  
8:00pm**

They arrived about twenty minutes later, Wally was out breath; he stopped to catch his breath since that was the most running he did in a while, he was planning to take the weekend off anyway he figured he did not need to run.

"You go on; I need to get something to eat, running makes me hungry what can I say."

"Ok, meet me in room 414."

"Ok, see you there."

Dick ran to the stairs since the line for the elevator was out the door. Running up the stairs was something he made a habit after losing to Slade Wilson back in the day, when he was still with the Titans.

Arriving at the door of room 414, he walked in; not knowing what he would find on the other side.

Looking around, he found Barbara on the bed, staring out the window, looking like she lost something and desperately wanted it back.

"Dick, take care, I got to leave, JLA business." Bruce explained. As soon as Bruce walked out the door, the doctor who was taking care of Barbara came in, a look of sadness was written all over his face.

"I have some bad news". The doctor said.

"Get on with it doctor, I haven't got all day." Barbara snapped at him.

"The bullet is lodged in your spine, I'm afraid you'll never walk again."

Barbara broke down crying, tears flooding her eyes; thinking about all the things she will never get do again; walking, fighting crime or even gymnastics which was something that was near and dear to her heart.

Dick took the chair and pulled it to the side of the bed.

"I can't even begin to understand what you're going through." Dick said.

"You don't get it, I'll never walk again." Barbara said in a slightly depressed and angry voice, crossing her slender arms together like used to do whenever she was mad at Dick.

Dick stared into her cerulean eyes, not blinking not even for a second. Barbara just say there, brooding, thinking about all the ways her life was over.

"I know, but Dick, I'm never to going to walk again." Barb explained.

"Can I tell something?"

"Sure, I'm not going anywhere."

"Years ago, I fought Deathstroke one on one; he stabbed a sword through my stomach, piercing an artery, I laid there in a pool of my blood for hours. I thought I was going to die; the one thing that kept me going was my will to live and to do good for humanity… and you." Dick explained.

"I have never told anyone that, not even Bruce."

"Dick."

"Barbara, listen to me. I love you; I always have since the day you made your own bat costume. There is nothing in this world I would not give for you. Seeing you like this is killing me, I just want you to be happy." Dick said.

"I know you do, I knew from the first moment you laid eyes on me; you were dumb struck like you had been hit by lightning." Barbara laughed, a smile appearing on her face.

They both hugged and embraced each other's presence; knowing that no matter what happens they will always have each other's back, no matter what. The rain pattered on the window sill, as they both looked up from each other; they saw the batsignal in the dark moonlight sky.

"I guess duty calls."

"I guess it does, go get them tiger."

Dick grabbed Wally running out the door and Barbara just sat there; knowing that they were the one thing right now in her life that mattered the most to her. She was content with that; remembering something Bruce told her when she first started out.

"Remember that if you make yourself more than just a woman, if you devote yourself to an ideal… you become something else entirely. A legend."


	2. Chapter 2: The Walk

Chapter 2- The Walk

**Author's Notes: So I finally got around to writing this. It took honestly about a week, on and off, whenever I had the time to. This takes places right after Chapter 1, picking up where we left off. Special thanks to Stronger123 for enjoying the first part of the story, which influenced me to write the next 4-6 chapters which will be coming soon in the upcoming months.**

"So… what happened?" Wally asked, knowing that it was probably the wrong thing to ask at time like this; he had only seen Dick this sad and angry once before; when Jason died years before. He knew he needed to be there for him no matter what. After all they had been through everything, knew everything about one another; besides he promised Bruce that he would look after Dick when things got too bad.

_That's what best friends are for_, he thought.

"Joker shot Barbara in the spine, the doctor said she will never walk again, she's paralyzed for life." Dick explained, looking Wally directly in his emerald eyes, holding back the tears as he tried to get the words out.

Barbara meant the world to him, to him she was the one shining light in the world of corruption and darkness that he could see and touch whenever things got to too bad.

"I'm sorry man; I can't even begin to understand what she's going through." Wally said, sensing that he probably said the wrong thing; besides he always said the wrong thing at the wrong time. It was a gift he got from his father.

"You don't get it… She… will never walk again, practice gymnastics or even just get out of that wheelchair. She's going to be like that until the day she dies." Dick said, his blue cerulean eyes started to tear up.

"I could not help her, no matter what I do. I failed her… I was too slow. I choose you over her and I paid the ultimate price. She's never going to walk again and it's all my fault." Dick could not contain the tears any longer; he dropped to his knees in the middle of the lobby.

People just stared at them, wondering what was happening.

Wally bent down on his knees to console his friend, hoping that he could help with this situation, after all this seemed all too familiar.

"Dick, I'm sorry. I know she means a lot to you. But you need to get up, she's not dead be happy about that." Wally said.

"How can I be happy about that?" Dick asked.

"You don't, you learn to live it, just like the way I did after Barry was hurt. Sure I wanted to hurt Vandal Savage even kill him but I knew that if I went down that road, I was not going to be the same person I used to be." Wally said, picking his longtime friend off the ground and then dusted him off, just like he used to do.

"Come on, we got work to do, if we don't do it, Bruce will have your head and Barry will have mine." Wally said, hoping that it would make Dick happy again.

Dick and Wally continued to walk down the hospital hallway, hoping to find the exit; since Wally insisted he knew where the exit was.

Truth was, he had no clue where it was but he would never tell Dick that.

Besides they would find it eventually.

Wally wondered what happened to the person he knew. Dick seemed more distant as the time passed by; he was worried that Dick would do something drastic, so he decided to keep an eye on him at least for now.

It was the least he could do after all that happened.

They found the exit after walking around in circles for seemed like hours. They made it back to the bikes they parked about two miles away.

The walk did Dick some good, clearing his head for the most part.

_He seemed less angry than before_, Wally thought.

He wasn't sure that was a good thing when it came to Dick, he never let his emotions show.

That was the way Bruce raised him, for him to show emotions, something was going to happen; the only question was how long?

Dick was angry as hell, at Joker, at Batman.

**Why was he not there? **

**What was so important that he could not do anything to help her? **

The worst part was that he felt like it was his fault, one hundred percent. He was supposed to be with her to just hang out and to meet her father but instead he chose patrol duty with Wally at the last minute. His face became filled with rage, just wanting to go back in time and change things.

That was the one thing he could not change, no matter how hard he tried. It was something he had to accept.

**Gotham City General Hospital, 2007  
11:00 pm EST**

Barbara sat in her hospital bed, staring blankly out the window into the darkness, thinking about the long talk she had with Dick about an hour before and about all the things she used to do when she could walk around.

She thought about the good times that she and Dick shared; walking on the beach during the summer, making sure she was okay every time she fell or hurt herself, taking her to the carnival only to be attacked by Two Face and the times they were alone with nothing to do.

_Those were the days,_ she thought to herself, wondering the future would be anything like the past.

The thought of never being able to do anything like that pissed her off to no end. She pounded her fist into the nearby drywall, again and again, relentlessly. Realizing that punching a drywall would solve nothing, she realized this after the eighth time hitting it after her hand was all bruised up and bloody. A number of unanswered questions ran through her mind all at once.

_Was she really going to be like this for the rest of her life?_

_Did Dick really feel that way about her? _

It would explain a lot about his behavior around her; the way he acted around her; he used to take pictures of her whenever he got the chance, he used to give her these elaborate Christmas gifts and she would just sit there and say thank you, not knowing the true way he felt about her.

Before she think about it more and maybe figure something out, a visitor appeared in the doorway of her hospital room. She looked up to see a familiar face, once she had not seen in a week.

It was a welcome site to see.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Tim asked, knocking on the door frame, wondering if Barbara was up to seeing him on such short notice.

"Pretty crappy, the doctors have me on painkillers." Barbara explained. "Did you hear about what happened?"

"I did, Bruce and me are on it. According the intelligence we got, he fled Gotham right after, we haven't been able to find him… yet." Tim explained, feeling awful for telling her this, so soon after what happened; he felt small and wanted to make it up to her, no matter what.

_She had enough bad news today. _

Tim pulled a chair up to the bed.

"So, what's new with you?" Barbara asked, trying to take her mind off everything that happened.

"Well, Bart asked me if I wanted to go the movies with him tomorrow." Tim said. "I think he likes me, should I go?" Tim asked.

"Two things, Do you like him back? and Do you want to go with him?,"

"I do but he's been like a friend to me, I do want go see the movie; it be nice to get out of the manor once in a while" waiting for an approval from her adoptive sister, whom he loved dearly and valued her input. She was usually right about these types of thing.

"That's how me and Dick started out, he used to ask to go there all the time and I would always say no until I could not take it anymore so I said yes; I don't care about anything like that. If you like him, then you like him. It's not my place to judge." Barbara said.

Tim could not believe what he heard, his sister agreed with him for once. Usually they would at each other's throats on matters like this but this was different. She cared for him, after all he was the best brother she had.

"So what's in the bag?" Barbara asked, wondering what was in there since he walked in.

"Something I think you'll like." Tim said.

Barbara opened the bag to find a bottle of sprite. She was happier in this moment than before, Tim remembered what she told years ago, that made her happy.

"I know you loved that, you mentioned it when we were in the cave last time."

"Thanks Tim, I really needed this." She said softly.

Barbara pulled out two glasses from the other bag that was on the other side of the bed. "A gift from Bruce, he sent it earlier". She poured both glasses to the rim and handed on to Tim.

"A toast to you, the greatest adopted sister I could ever have or ask for and the best tech genius of the year" Tim stated.

They clinked both their glasses together and just talked for the rest of the night, just about some things like things that happened in the past couple of days.

Barbara did not care in the slightest. She was being released in the morning, so it was nice to spend some time with friends to take her mind off everything that happened to her.

After talking to Barbara, Dick went home to his apartment near the manor to make sure that he was still in one piece, physically, mentally and emotionally.

The one person who he cared about the most in the world was paralyzed to a wheelchair for the rest of her life and there was nothing he could do to fix it; no magic cure, no bone replacements, nothing.

Dick sat at the edge of the bed, feeling guilt ridden about everything that happened, not being there to protect her, not being able to be with her when she was laying there and sure as hell not being there to if she died. Holding a photo of him and Barbara at the 95th annual Gotham carnival last year, tears came to fill his eyes.

If that happened, what would he do? He did not want to think about that, not after everything that happened.

Dick was distraught until hearing someone at the door. It was late about 11:00pm at night, so he was not expecting anyone till the morning. Dick heard another knock on the door, it was unusually fast so that meant that it could only be one out of three people either Barry, Wally or Bart.

His money was on Wally; 11:00pm was his favorite time to drop by and just talk to him, maybe eat some food and play some video games like they used to do.

"Hold on, I' m coming." Dick said, hurrying, rushing to the door after getting up off the bed.

He unlocked the first lock, then the second, but the third took a while; it always jammed up at night.

One of life's many mysteries, he thought.

"Hey what's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." Wally said.

"It's nothing, just thinking about everything."

"Really, I find that hard to believe, even for you."

"I know, what are you doing here?"

"Came to see how you're doing. Bruce was worried that you would do something you would regret"

"Fine, have a seat."

Wally sat in the dark wood stained chair, while Dick sat on the bed where he was sitting before.

He looked at Wally, hoping at least one of them would say something to break the awkward silence in the room.

"Barbara told me everything about what happened." Dick said.

"Are you sure you want to be telling me this?"

"I'm sure,

"Dick can I tell you something, just between the two of us?"

"Sure, spill."

"I care about you or Barbara but this whole thing with you wanting revenge, does not end for anyone. You need to give this up, she paralyzed and there's nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it."

The fact that Wally would even be able to say this to his best friend of the past five years baffled Dick, how the hell could he even say that; if it was Artemis he would do the exact something in his position.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND STAY THE HELL OUT. DON'T COME BACK OR I'LL KILL YOU."

Dick got up, anger flooding his whole body, shoved Wally out the door. Wally hit the wall outside of the apartment, nearly being knocked out, but he was tougher than he thought.

"Dick, I thought you were better than this."

"Turns out you're wrong, I never changed." Dick said shutting the door in his best friends face for the first and final time.

Wally limped down the stairs, wondering what actually happened back there, but that was something to think about for another time. He had a date with Artemis in a couple of hours, so his speedster healing needed to kick before that.

"What happened to you, Dick?" Wally said, looking up at the silhouette of Dick in the window, he still cared about him but this crossed the line.

Things may never be the same, he thought. Only time would tell if they could repair the damage Dick caused.

Wally continued to walk down the street, hoping Dick would come running after him, but he didn't, he did not even try to.

That's what hurt Wally the most, either way he did not care now; now after what Dick acted like.

Besides he needed to meet with Artemis, they had a date at the Iceberg Lounge, which was something he would not miss for the world, not even for his best friend.


	3. Chapter 3: Wrong Turn

Chapter 3- Wrong Turn

**Gotham City, 2007  
The Next Morning**

The next morning, Barbara was released from the hospital.

_They kept her long enough_ she told herself.

_I'm finally getting out of this horrible place_, she thought to herself, wondering who would be at the entrance to pick her up.

As the nurse wheeled her down to the waiting room, Dick was waiting for her; the second he saw her, his heart felt relieved; not because she would never walk again, just because of the fact he would be able to see her again.

Besides he was the only one waiting for her, so he figured that put him back in her good graces after all that happened.

"Hey, ready to go?" Dick asked, hoping for an answer.

"Yeah, Could we stop at Gotham Park first, I haven't been there since…," Barbara said.

"I just want to see the trees and bushes, they always made me happy whenever I was feeling down or just sad."

"Sure, anything for you, next stop Gotham Park" Dick said, hoping to cheer her up.

The park was about two blocks away from the hospital. They put it there to cheer the patients up Dick thought. It probably made more sense than his other theory about poison ivy and her plants. That's just stupid, Dick thought, looking down at Barbara.

They continued down the street. "How you doing, I heard Tim came by last night?" Dick said.

"He did, why do you care?" Barbara asked, hoping to find out why.

"No reason, he cares about you, you know that right?"

"I figured that out when he asked me about Bart?"

"What about Bart?"

"Bart has a crush on him, like you used to have on me all those years ago. I think it's cute."

"Since when?" Dick asked.

"Since he arrived here, he said he likes Bart back, are you okay with it?"

"I'll talk to Tim about it later today; I'll have to see about it."

"Take it easy on him, okay; for me."

"Ok."

They arrived through the south entrance only because it was the closest from the hospital. The thing about Tim bothered Dick, only because that was his brother in an adoptive sense and he cared for him. Anyway, they walked near the trees that she liked.

Tears flooded her eyes, covering her face so that Dick would not see her like this. He never saw her like this except once but that was a long time ago with Jason. Something neither of them wanted to relive again.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I… I'm just angry about everything; the chair, me never walking again." Barbara explained.

Dick put his hand on her shoulder, looking her directly in those wonderful eyes of hers.

"I don't care about any of that. You are the one person who matters the most to me, from the first moment I saw you all those years ago. Chair or no chair, you are still the same person I fell in love with and nothing will ever change that."

They just sat there, admiring all of the scenery. It reminded her of the walks they used to take back in the day. It made her happy, just enough.

They continued on the way back to the cave from the park, not an easy feat for someone in a wheel chair, but they pressed onward.

"This whole place looks new." Barbara said as they continued down the street, moving quickly to make sure the whole team was there when they got back to the cave.

"That's because it is. They built it a while back. It was finished while you were in the hospital." Dick explained, "What's the name of it, I can't see it." Barbara asked.

"Wayne Enterprises, Bruce built the new building after the old building seemed to be falling apart, a good business decision on his part." Dick said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I have no idea why he did it, probably some mid-life crisis thing."

Barbara laughed, wondering why it was funny but she didn't care, Dick always made jokes like that but somehow they always made her laugh.

Dick and Barbara continued down the almost empty street, no one was in sight for miles, something was wrong Dick sensed; something was not good in the slightest way possible.

Before they knew it, two men appeared in front of them, brandishing two semi-automatic 9mm pistols. One pointed his gun at Barbara and the other at Dick.

"Give us all your money!" the one man demanded.

"Calm down, here's my wallet. Do you feel better that you're robbing a paralyzed woman and her boyfriend?" Dick stated, hoping to make them angry so they would mess up.

The one robber's face became red with anger; he struck Dick with the butt of the gun causing Dick to fall hard to the ground.

Dick looked up at Barbara, somehow she knew he had a plan, besides she now carried a stun gun whenever she went since she can't fight them directly anymore.

She and Dick had a plan for this, if it would happen, they would use it along the with staff that Dick kept hidden under his shirt.

_What a genius place to hide that_, she thought to herself.

Dick looked at Barbara, winking his right eye so she would know what to do.

"So, what was the plan; rob us, kill us then dump the bodies?" Dick said sarcastically.

"That was the plan; make some easy money, a robber's best dream job."

"Well, I have one slight problem with that." Dick said removing the staff from under his shirt. He spun the staff around hitting both of the men in the face, metal staffs to the face always hurt no matter who you were. The one man remained on his feet but Barbara would take care of him, while the other fell, cringing in pain.

Barbara took the man who was closest to her, hitting the one man in front of her in both of his knee caps, he fell straight to the ground on his face just like she knew he would; just because she was in a wheelchair does not mean she could work out her arms like she used to.

They just sat there laughing at them both, the fact was that they were taken down by a wheelchair bound woman and her boyfriend amused both of them.

They tied both men to the nearest lamp post and left before the Gotham police arrived; members of the Batman Family usually avoided the police. After all, they would usually leave before they arrived; it was something that Bruce taught them before.

"That was just like the good old days." Barbara said a hint of excitement in her voice.

"It was, now let's get going before anyone shows up." Dick said.

He pushed her in the chair as fast as he could but he realized that they had at least twenty minutes before they had to leave. They took their time on the way back to the cave, they decided on stopping off at Barbara's apartment to grab a couple of things before heading to the cave to see everyone else.

Dick and Barbara arrived at her Gotham City Apartment about two hours later, probably because they sat in Gotham Park for hours previously, just talking and walking; nothing more.

"So, you have any plans for tonight?" Dick said.

"Not really, I was just going to sit here and get some team assignments done."

Not even a day out of the hospital and she was back to her old ways. That was the Barbara he knew, she did not care about anything, except him and work. Maybe it took her mind of the wheelchair and everything else that had happened.

"Team assignments really? I thought you would be out on the town tonight, celebrating you getting out the hospital."

"No, I'm just going to stay here for a couple hours and get some work done. It takes my mind off of everything that's happened." Barbara said, hoping Dick would understand what she was saying to him.

Dick lowered himself down to Barbara's level, wondering if he could even change her mind.

She was stubborn but that's what he loved about her the most.

"I did have something planned, special for you no one else. Would you like to know what it was?" Dick asked.

"Sure."

"If I'm going to tell you, you have to come outside with me."

"Ok, why not."

"It's a surprise!" Dick said, a slight smile escaping from his face.

Dick wheeled Barbara out to the terrace, overlooking the Gotham skyline.

"Are you ready?"

In an instant, he picked her out of the chair, holding her in those strong wonderful acrobat arms of his, holding her close to his chest with one arm; it was something out of romantic movie she thought.

"What… are you planning?"

"Nothing, just hold on."

"I'm not sure about this."

"Neither was I, but here we are."

Dick jumped off the terrace, Barbara in hand. She was scared half to death, she could not save herself if they fell, but the worrying soon turned into excitement.

Besides Dick always a plan for every single little thing he did, no matter what.

He took out a grappling gun, one that he took from her apartment; shooting it at the nearest building that was closest to them. It attached, swinging them across the city like she used to before everything, she was tightly gripped in Dick's arms, so she would not fall, but she still enjoyed it.

Barbara was happy for the first time since well… everything, she was swinging around Gotham like she used to do, with Dick; the one person who she cared about the most excluding her father and uncle.

Dick always knew how to make her happy.

They swung around for hours; Barbara was surprised that Dick could hold her for that long. He was an acrobat before the life, but she figured he was used to holding people of the trapeze lines in Hadley's Circus, when he was a kid.

They finally landed back at the apartment, both still full of adrenaline. She had not done anything like that since that night because she could not, but Dick did not care about any of that; only that she was happy.

"Well, how was it?" Dick asked.

"Fantastic, it was nice to get out and do something."

"That's great, glad you enjoyed it."

"I'm tired, let's go to bed." Barbara said winking an eye like she used to do.

They went inside and fell onto the bed, arms wrapped around one another like in the old days.

"Goodnight, Dick; thanks for everything."

"No problem, glad you enjoyed it."

Barbara put her on Dick's shoulder, it was the one spot she was comfortable on his body. Her head just seemed to fit on his broad shoulders. She always loved his shoulders, she had no idea why she was attracted to him but they were together.

"Dick…" Barbara whispered quietly

"Yes…" Dick answered back; his head was buried in her hair.

"Where do you think we'll be in ten years?" Barbara asked.

Dick was caught off guard. He never thought that far about them or about anything. It was always the heat of moment with him, never about the future.

"Ummmm, well; we'll be in a big house down by the beach, we'll have little Dick and Barbara's running around in the back yard and we just sit there watching them." Dick said.

"What about being a member of the Justice League or the Bat Family?" Barbara said.

"We'll retire from crime fighting, it would be best for the kids to not know about our pasts." Dick said.

Dick put his hand around her waist, pulling her closer in. This was the first time in months that either of them had been together alone, just the two of them; he wanted to make sure that he and her remembered all the good parts of the night.

"We can have that life right now, you know." Dick said.

"I know but we can't leave just yet; we have much more to do." Barbara said.

They kissed goodnight and fell straight to sleep. Besides they were exhausted from their activity and just needed to sleep before heading to the cave in the morning.


End file.
